I am completely worn out from the weekend. Will was home (in body and mind) and did not have to work (much), so we packed all of the family activities we had missed the last few weekends into the past 2 ½ days. We’ve also all been sleeping better now that the Frances “Sleep Boot Camp” has been working wonders this week (more on that later…), which makes these adventures much more enjoyable.
Friday morning, Frances, George and I ventured out (sans Daddy) to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in north Richmond. While this spring has been cooler than I would have liked, the weather has been ideal for keeping the flowers in bloom longer and stronger. We made our way down to the Children’s Garden complete with a huge tree house, vegetable gardens, interactive exhibits, a shaded sandbox, and a water park (not opened yet).
Both children, but especially George, were fascinated by a huge display of 4,000+ silver pinwheels.
This display is actually in honor of child abuse victims - a powerful reminder that you can't help but appreciate when you are with your own children.
The kids were completely worn out – the making of a perfect outing! And please excuse the very obvious and coordinating Christmas outfits. Frances begged me to allow her and George to wear those that morning and I am such a sucker for girl/boy matching outfits that I couldn’t say no.
On Saturday, we made our first family trip to see baby Maggie, my brother and his wife’s new adorable baby girl. I had seen her about 5 days after she was born, but Will, Frances and George were dying to see the little pumpkin. She is absolutely adorable and has grown so much these last 5 weeks.
I was very encouraged to see how well George did being a middle child for an afternoon. Will...are you reading this?
Frances and George were on their best behavior (I’m sure Henry and Kerrin are reading this thinking, “That was their best behavior? Sheesh!”) and both were enthralled with their newest cousin.
I failed to get a picture of Maggie with her parents, so I am stealing one of Kerrin’s Facebook pictures:
How is it that they both look more rested than Will and me? Not to mention fabulous. I need to know their secret!
Sunday morning we ventured out to Maymont Park, another Richmond treasure. Maymont has a children’s petting zoo, a rapture sanctuary (complete with hawks, owls, vultures and a beautiful bald eagle), two black bears, a Japanese garden with an incredible cascading waterfall and a huge pond (with huge Koi fish), and many, many other things that we just could not do for sake of time and grumbling tummies. Maymont is much too hilly and big for me to take the children alone, so I was very excited to go now that we had access to Daddy again.
Sunday ended with a visit from Grandma, Grandpa and cousin Trey; and an early bedtime for my two exhausted kiddos. This was exactly the kind of weekend I was hoping to have now that I am home full-time. Rather than drag the kids around on all of our necessary errands (groceries, Target, Sam’s, Lowes, etc.) and then cram in as much fun as we could with what was left of the days, we could just relax and enjoy ourselves. Don’t worry, we still had our fair share of meltdowns (both), biting (George), major negotiations (Frances) and whining (what is it with the whining? Doesn’t it make you want to lose your mind?!). But even a crummy day at the beach is still a day at the beach.
And I love the beach!
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